The Truth About ISIS Isn’t What Many Americans are Going to Want to Hear

By now I’m willing to bet that most Americans have heard of the terrorist organization known as ISIS (also referred to as ISIL). This group is quite possibly the most organized, and extreme, Islamic terrorist group we’ve ever seen. To give everyone an idea of just how extreme this group is, even al-Qaeda pulled away from associating with them because ISIS is too radical.

That fact alone says quite a lot.

But as ISIS’s influence, and brutality, spread across many parts of Iraq, it finally forced President Obama to order strategic airstrikes with the hope of weakening their forces. It’s a decision that President Obama clearly didn’t want to make. After over a decade of war, the last thing most Americans want to hear is anything that even hints that we might be getting ourselves mixed up in another war.

And while the airstrikes have been somewhat successful, I’ve got some bad news – they’re not going to be enough. If we’re really serious about taking out ISIS (which I believe we need to do), then we’re eventually going to have to send ground troops back into Iraq.

Because ISIS isn’t something that can simply be ignored. They’re a group that clearly wants to create some massive, radical Islamic state in the Middle East. Right now they’re targeting Syria and Iraq, but I can promise you they won’t stop there. And the longer they’re ignored, the stronger they’re going to get. It’s really not outside of the realm of possibilities that they’ll try conquering one nation at a time in an effort to create a massive radical Islamic empire if they’re not tackled head on.

Now I know a lot of people are absolutely, and unequivocally, opposed to getting involved in any kind of war. And I understand that. But I also think it’s clear that President Obama is trying to avoid what I feel is inevitable. That is, sending troops back into Iraq.

But the harsh truth about war is that our involvement in it shouldn’t be based on public opinion or how many we’ve fought. If war is needed, then it’s needed. While war should always be avoided at all costs, and only used if all other options have been exhausted, it can’t be taken off the table.

War isn’t – and should never be – popular.

And I think with ISIS, it’s clear the president really doesn’t want to do what deep down he knows he’s eventually going to have to. Which is how a president should act about war. It shouldn’t be one of a president’s first options, but their absolute last.

I guess this is all just the ultimate “ironic twist” to the incompetence of the Bush administration. Because of G.W. Bush’s ineptitude, Iraq finally became the threat that it never was in 2003 when he lied to the American people and took us to war.

Allen Clifton is a native Texan who now lives in the Austin area. He has a degree in Political Science from Sam Houston State University. Allen is a co-founder of Forward Progressives and creator of the popular Right Off A Cliff column and Facebook page. Be sure to follow Allen on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to his channel on YouTube as well.